


Day 6: Poison

by GemmaRose



Series: VLD Whump Week [6]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fever, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Headaches & Migraines, Nausea, Pidge | Katie Holt-centric, Smug Hunk (Voltron), Underage Drinking, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-18
Updated: 2017-08-18
Packaged: 2018-12-16 22:30:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11838309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GemmaRose/pseuds/GemmaRose
Summary: They really should learn to listen to Hunk.





	Day 6: Poison

“Are you sure that’s safe to eat?” Lance whispered, gesturing almost subtly at the plate of questionable-looking kebab things in Pidge’s hands.

“Well, Coran and Allura ate them fine.” Keith said, picking up one of the skewers.

“Do you really trust Coran’s taste in food?” Hunk asked pointedly, and Pidge nodded in agreement.

“I’ll do a tox screen, just in case.” Pidge said, handing the plate to Shiro. “Here, hold this, I need both hands.”

“Why do I have to hold the gross stuff?” Shiro complained, but obligingly kept a grip on the edges of the dish. Pidge activated the little holographic screen projector built into their armour, and tapped through a few icons until it began scanning the organic matter it was pointed at for known toxins. It beeped after a few seconds, and Pidge scanned the lines of text.

“Well, my suit is reading trace amounts of a bunch of allergens, but nothing outright poisonous.” they said after a minute. “So as long as you don’t have food allergies you should be good.”

“Damn.” Lance grumbled, crossing his arms.

“I think I’ll hold off too.” Hunk said, giving the skewers a wary look.

“More for me.” Keith shrugged, and grabbed a second one. “Shiro?”

“If Hunk won’t eat it, I’m not risking it.” he shook his head.

“I am.” Pidge said, grabbing two of the skewers before Keith could take them all. “New food is fun.” they grinned, and bit into a piece of meat. It tasted like fake crab mixed with some kind of shellfish, and was chewy like grilled octopus.

“Weirdos.” Lance scoffed.

“Agreed.” Shiro nodded, and ruffled Pidge’s hair before moving to do the same with Keith. Keith ducked away scowling, and Pidge giggled around a mouthful of citrusy fruit. These gatherings could be boring as hell, but tonight’s was shaping up to be fun.

\---

The night, as it turned out, was not fun at all. The party dragged on forever, massive ballroom slowly warming just from the sheer number of bodies within until Pidge felt sweat pooling under their flight suit. They leaned against the wall, and rubbed at their temples with a disgruntled huff. Either the music was getting louder, or they had a migraine coming on. The migraine was more likely.

“You alright?” Shiro asked, and Pidge startled as they realized he’d come up next to them quietly enough the music completely masked his approach.

“Tired.” they answered honestly. “And sweaty; this room’s gotten way too warm.”

“Do you want to go back to the castle and lie down?” Shiro frowned, worry creasing his brow.

“It’s nothing.” Pidge made a dismissive gesture. “I’ll be fine until Allura says we can leave.” their stomach growled, and Shiro chuckled.

“Have you eaten anything since those kebabs?” he asked, putting his human hand on the back of their shoulders and propelling them away from the wall. “C’mon, let’s make sure it’s not a blood sugar issue.”

“Great idea.” Pidge grinned. “Hunk was rambling about their baking, so the desserts are probably really good.”

“Real food first.” Shiro chided. “Honestly, you’re almost as bad as Matt.”

“Oh, I’m worse.” Pidge said smugly. “I’m just on good behaviour because we’re at a fancy party.”

“I don’t doubt it.” Shiro sighed.

\---

“Pidge, let’s dance!” Lance shouted, and Pidge flinched at the burst of noise. Lance stilled in the open, arched doorway, and stepped into the room slowly. “Hey, are you alright?”

“Mostly.” Pidge grimaced. “Headache.”

“Ah.” Lance dropped down onto the wide padded bench lightly, and pulled something from his hip pouch. “I’ve got some kousa pills, if you want?”

“God, please.” Pidge held out a hand, and Lance dropped a pair of round pills in their palm. They popped both in their mouth, chewed for a few seconds, then swallowed the bitter powder. “Bluh, it’s like eating raw espresso beans.”

“I could grab you something to wash it down, but I can make no promises about whether or not it’s alcoholic.” Lance said with a quick little grin.

“Ugh, no thanks.” Pidge grimaced at the thought of mixing space alcohol and space coffee. Lance slung an arm around their shoulders, and Pidge leaned into his warmth. For a few seconds they sat together like that in comfortable silence, then Pidge looked up at him with a small frown. “Why did you come find me, anyways?”

“Oh, well, Keith’s not feeling too hot so Shiro insisted on taking us back to the castle. But Hunk got grabbed up by- I think it was a dutchess?” he waved his free hand dismissively. “Some royal alien, and he’s stuck dancing with her for the next few songs.”

Pidge chuckled, and tucked their head back against Lance’s shoulder. “Sounds like Hunk, alright.”

\---

In the seat next to them on the shuttle, Keith groaned pitifully, curled up in a ball of evident pain. “I don’t feel good.” he mumbled, his face mottled with warm pink flush and patches of pallid skin.

“Don’t worry, buddy.” Hunk soothed, patting Keith’s shoulder. “We’ll be back on the castle in a dobosh, and then you can sleep it off.”

Keith let out another groan, and Pidge rolled their eyes. “Drama queen.” they muttered.

“Am not.” Keith muttered back.

“Drama queen, drama queen~” Pidge sing-songed. Lance snorted.

“It _hurts_.” Keith whined insistently.

“Wait, are you _drunk_?” Lance asked with evident glee.

“‘M not.” Keith mumbled.

“He is.” Hunk sighed.

“Holy shit!” Lance cackled, quickly shutting up when Pidge jabbed him in the side. “Sorry.” he apologized. “But Keith is drunk, underage, and Shiro definitely knows.” he sniggered. “You’re gonna be in trouble~”

“Shut up.” Keith mumbled, curling in tighter on himself as Hunk drew him into a one-armed hug.

“We’re here.” Shiro’s voice came over the speaker from the cockpit. “Everybody out.” the rear hatch opened, and Pidge made to stand. A wave of vertigo washed over them before they even made it all the way upright, and only Lance’s quick reflexes saved them from slamming their helmet into the back of the bench.

“Alright, Duendecillo.” Lance sighed, wrapping an arm around their back. “Let’s get you to your room.”

Pidge leaned gratefully on Lance as they headed into the castle, up to the Paladin Quarters, but when they were only a few halls away their stomach lurched. “Bathroom.” they blurted, pulling free of Lance’s hold and bolting back the way they’d come. Their knees nearly gave out before they reached the toilet, but thankfully when their stomach forced its contents up their throat they didn't splatter on the floor.

It burned something awful, and tasted even worse, and Pidge shuddered as a second heave came on the heels of the first. The sound of the mostly-liquid mixture hitting the water in the bowl was almost as nauseating as the stench, and Pidge gagged on a dry heave. “Fuuuuck.” they moaned when the stomach spasms stopped.

“Yeesh.” Lance muttered, pulling them back by the shoulders until they were half sitting half kneeling on the cool floor. “Let’s just-” he leaned over Pidge and activated the toilet’s flush. “Okay, that’s better. How you feelin?”

“Like shit.” Pidge muttered, slumping forwards and resting their cheek on the toilet seat. The absence of the smell helped some, but they still felt painfully nauseous. Heavy footsteps barged into the room, into the next stall, and under the divider Pidge saw red-armoured knees hit the floor. A split second later their stomach turned again at the sound of vomit hitting water, and they leaned back over the bowl. Nothing came up, their stomach was empty, but the dry heaves hurt like an absolute _bitch_.

“Well.” Hunk huffed, sounding more than a little out of breath. “I think we know what’s wrong.”

“What?” Lance asked. Pidge sat back from the toilet bowl, grimaced at the continued retching noises from Keith’s stall, and twisted to look over their shoulder.

“What is it?” they asked, voice raspy.

“Food poisoning.” Hunk said with a decisive nod.

Lance snorted, but quailed under Pidge’s acid glare. “I’ll go grab cups.” he said quickly. “Let both of you rinse out your mouths.”

“Thanks.” Pidge said drily as he left, leaving only Hunk standing outside the stalls with his arms crossed and a mildly disappointed look on his face. “What?”

“I’m not putting either of you in a cryo-pod.” Hunk said after a moment.

“Huuunk.” Keith moaned, and Hunk rolled his eyes.

“I said those kebabs looked suspicious, didn’t I?” he pointed out, his voice echoing slightly as he walked into Keith’s stall. The toilet flushed, and a second later he was back in sight, going over to the opposite wall and leaning against it. “Maybe now you’ll start listening to me when I say not to eat something.”

“Worth it.” Keith laughed, raspy and ugly, and Pidge slumped against the wall separating them with a chuckle of their own.

“Totally worth it.” they agreed.

“Hopeless, the both of you.” Hunk huffed.

**Author's Note:**

> "duendecillo" is "gremlin" in Spanish, and my personal headcanon nickname Lance has for Pidge.


End file.
